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“You don’t know that, Mia. The timing is damn coincidental,” I contend.
Her face waxes over, shock and irritation morphing into acceptance in a few short seconds. “Fine. Put it on the list, Boss. But I’ll handle looking into it.”
“Any Redleg business on that device?” he asks, voice free of judgment or condemnation.
He’s snapped intoBoss Mode, ready to handle shit. Our asses have been chewed, and he’s moved on. The sign of a great leader. And a great man.
I suspect his concern for one of his employees trumps his exasperation over the mess we’ve caused.
“No, sir,” she responds.
He presses his lips together in a hard line and curses under his breath at her use of the dreaded title. I hear the echo of every non-commissioned officer I had snapping at someone with the familiarDon’t call me sir. I work for a living, private.
“Anyone else’s home broken into last night? Or any other shit to add?”
With nothing added, we go through the list, considering options and figuring out the action plan for each item.
Boss decides all Redleg personnel involved in the mission should pair up for extra protection. Aaron and Jonesy both live alone, so they decide to room together for the time being. Shep invites Junior to stay with him, given he already guards Val. Shep likes the idea of Kri and Val having more protection, anyhow. Especially since Kri’s face was exposed during her portion of the op last night. Others at the bar might have seen the guys leave with her.
While I try to figure out what to do, Boss calls his assistant into the conference room. “Peg, I need you to send out an urgent message to all clerical and support staff to make sure they’re utilizing their home security systems and to be on guard when in public. If they feel or see something off, I want them to call me and/or the police. If anyone asks why, let them know we’re raising the risk level due to a confidential case.”
“And the guards?” she asks.
“We’ll handle notifying them,” he responds instantly.
Peggy excuses herself, and Boss turns to me. “You and Mia need to notify all our guards about the heightened threat level once we’re done here. I want them to check in with you guys every hour until further notice. Set up the app so you don’t have to manage it manually.”
“Yes, Boss. I’ll have it alert us only if someone misses a check-in. Do you want it hourly at night too?” she asks.
Big Al sweeps his gaze to Leo, who’s running his tongue over his teeth, deep in thought. “I’d suggest we lessen it to every three or four hours at night. Can we set up the app to prompt them to check in after five minutes if they haven’t by then?”
Mia nods excitedly. “Yes. I can do that. I’ll require an access code for them too. Don’t want anyone in possession of their phone to simply check a box when the alert comes through.”
Boss snaps and points at Mia. “That’s good. I like that.”
Continuing through the list, Boss tells her to contact Clearwater PD to report the break-in since she doesn’t suspect anyone there is in bed with the Russians.
She and I are tasked with exploring the FBI leak, getting some actionable intel that could be admissible in court— in other words, obtained legally. Once we have something he can use, he’ll make some calls to his friends at the justice department.
“And as for the traffickers and the girl. Hmm. Ideas?”
“What if we give the asshole trafficker, Davidov, back to Lenkov and let him dole out his own punishment?” Shep offers.
Considering the suggestion, Big Al sucks in a deep breath, puffing his cheeks and slowly letting the air flutter out. “It’s easy; that’s for sure. If we send him back, they’ll assume he’s the leak.”
Jonesy speaks up for the first time. “I don’t like it. He knows too much about us at this point and about the other guy who gave us the location— Savin and his girl, Tasha. Anything Lenkov gets out of him before they kill him will paint a bigger target on our backs.”
“Can we turn him over to CPD for holding?” I suggest.
“Mia?” Boss asks, deferring to her since she’s the one with all the apprehension about law enforcement.
Her eyes taper to slits, and she drags her teeth across her bottom lip. “Can we get Lettie or Tasha to identify him as the solo kidnapper? Would that be enough to hold him without them involving the FBI?”
“Put a pin in that. I’ll let them sit at the motel another day while we handle this other shit.” Big Al taps his fingers across his tablet. “I’ll call the chief and find out at what point he’s required to notify the FBI when trafficking comes up in one of their investigations.”
“Speaking of the girls,” Leo draws out the words, letting them hang with a tense pause.
“We dropped them off at the emergency room last night,” I respond, wondering what he’s getting at.
